This invention relates broadly to the field of paintball equipment and, more particularly, pertains to a dispenser mounted on a paintball gun for introducing cleaning balls used in purging the barrel of a paintball gun of deposits from a previously ruptured paintball.
The game of paintball has enjoyed great success in recent years and is a game in which two or more teams try to capture one another""s flags. The players on each of the teams each carry a CO2 powered gun that shoots paintballs that are propelled by short bursts of the pressurized gas. Typically, paintballs are gelatin covered, spherical capsules having a diameter of approximately {fraction (11/16)} of an inch that contain a colored liquid. When a player is hit with a paintball from an opponent""s gun, the paintball ruptures and leaves a colored mark on the hit player who then must leave the game.
As the game of paintball has grown in sophistication, semi-automatic paintball guns, guns that sequentially fire paintballs as fast as the trigger can be repeatedly pulled by the user, have become more prevalent. A high firing rate capacity of semi-automatic paintball guns results in the occasional rupture or breakage of paintballs which leave shell or capsule particles and filler paint deposits on the inside surface of a paintball gun barrel. Such deposits negatively affect the performance of the paintball gun.
The cleaning of the inside surface of the paintball gun barrel typically involves using a rod-like cleaning device such as disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. Des 393,115 issued Mar. 31, 1998 to Bell et al. One end of this device is provided with a series of spaced apart, disc-like wiping elements such that it is inserted into the barrel of the paintball gun and pulled through to expel the build up of deposits inside the barrel. This type of cleaning process is not ideally effective during paintball competition because of the time involved for cleaning and the need for an additional rod-like accessory which must be carried by the operator of the paintball gun. The use of such accessory unduly disrupts the normal operation of the paintball gun.
In order to improve upon the prior art, the present inventor has set forth in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/993,002 filed Nov. 14, 2001 (which is herein incorporated by reference), a compressible, absorbent cleaning ball which may be inserted and propelled within the paintball gun to remove ruptured paintball debris from the paintball gun barrel. In the aforementioned application, it is explained that after the hopper of the paintball is removed and paintballs in the loaded tube of the gun are extracted, a single cleaning ball is inserted into the loading tube for delivery into the barrel. Once this has been done, the hopper may be reattached and normal gun operation may continue with the cleaning ball being fired through the barrel to remove paintball shell particles and filler paint from a previously ruptured paintball.
Although the process described above provides adequate cleaning of the paintball gun barrel, it is desirable to make the loading of the cleaning ball faster and less involved. Accordingly, there is a need for a dispensing unit which can be adapted for mounting on the paintball gun to expedite introduction of the cleaning ball and promote faster cleaning.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a storage and feeding device for selectively feeding cleaning balls into the barrel for purging the barrel of ruptured paintball debris.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning ball dispenser which is adapted to be mounted on a variety of paintball guns.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a cleaning ball storage and feeding device which may be conveniently interconnected between the hopper and the loading tube of a paintball gun.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser for storing a plurality of cleaning balls in series fashion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning ball dispenser which is cost affordable and reliable in use.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of dispensing cleaning devices for purging the barrel of a paintball gun.
In one aspect of the invention, a paintball gun for propelling paintballs has a barrel formed of a loading tube and a hopper for feeding paintballs into the loading tube for delivery to the barrel. The invention is improved wherein a cleaning ball storage and feeding device is interconnected between the hopper and the loading tube for selectively feeding cleaning balls into the barrel to purge the barrel from shell particles and filler paint deposited from a previously propelled ruptured paintball. The storage and feeding device has a first portion for carrying paintballs and cleaning balls to the loading tube, and a second portion in communication with the first portion for storing and feeding a plurality of cleaning balls. The second portion of the storage and feeding device includes a spring-loaded holding assembly for maintaining the position of the cleaning balls.
In another aspect of the invention, a dispenser is provided for cleaning devices used in cleaning a barrel of a paintball gun having a loading tube in communication with the barrel and a hopper for feeding paintballs into the loading tube for delivery to the barrel. The dispenser includes a body having a tubular connecting elbow with an inlet attached to the hopper and an outlet connected to the loading tube. The body also has a storage and feed tube in communication with the connecting elbow for storing and feeding a series of paintball gun barrel cleaning devices. A spring-loaded door is provided between the connecting elbow and the storage and feed tube for selectively preventing and permitting passage of the cleaning device from the storage and feed tube into the connecting elbow for delivery to the barrel of the paintball gun. The body is formed with a loading hole permitting access for pushing one of the cleaning devices from the storage and feed tube into the connecting elbow. The storage and feed tube includes a plunger with a loading knob projecting therefrom. The plunger is biased upwardly by a spring acting against the bottom surface thereof, and the plunger has a top surface engageable with one of the cleaning devices. The body is formed with an elongated slot along the length of the storage and feed tube, the slot having a curved portion at a bottom end thereof. The loading knob projects through and rides in the slot in a working condition, and is captured in the curved portion of the slot to hold the plunger in spring tension in a locked condition during which the cleaning devices are loaded into the storage and feed tube. The spring-loaded door is pivotally mounted on the body between a closed position and an open position. The body includes a removable plug at a bottom end of the storage and feed tube for permitting access thereto.
The invention also contemplates a method of dispensing cleaning devices used in cleaning a barrel of a paintball gun having a loading tube in communication with the barrel, and a hopper for feeding paintballs into the loading tube for delivery to the barrel. The method includes the steps of providing a dispenser having a pathway for normally carrying paintballs from the hopper to the loading tube, and a storage and feed tube in communication with the pathway for storing and feeding a series of paintball gun barrel cleaning devices; interconnecting the dispenser between the hopper and the loading tube; and periodically transferring one of the cleaning devices from the storage and feed tube into the pathway for delivery to the paintball gun barrel. The step of periodically transferring one of the cleaning devices includes a step of manually pushing one of the cleaning devices into the pathway.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a paintball gun for propelling paintballs and having a barrel formed with a loading tube and a hopper for feeding a first type of paintballs into the loading tube for delivery to the barrel. The invention is improved wherein a ball storage and feeding device is interconnected between the hopper and the loading tube for storing a second type of paintballs and selectively feeding the second type of paintballs from a storage and feed tube to a connecting elbow.
Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.